BRINGING THE GOLEM TO LIFE

For many years, William Joyce and our team at Moonbot Studios have been fascinated with a tale rooted in Jewish folklore. The Golem's story originates in Prague and has rippled through pop culture for decades: Frankenstein, Terminator, Prometheus. It is the first great monster story retold in countless variations. We need your help to tell the next evolution of the story in an epic game.

Our game is set in the early 16th century. Europe is being overtaken by Cesare Borgia, ruler of an evil army determined to exploit the world’s greatest cities. Prague has become one of the most innovative cities on Earth and a haven for inventors and pioneers. Rabbi Loew, the greatest scientist and religious leader in all of Prague, must do something to stop this evil force. In a prayer dream, he has a vision of a giant man made of clay, wood, metal and stone — a Golem.

Rabbi Loew, along with his smart and eager apprentice, convinces the guilds of Prague to assist him in the creation of the Golem. He must rely on five guilds to bring life to the Golem:

The Metal Forger Guild for the Golem’s armor

The Wood Worker Guild for its hands and joints

The Clock Maker Guild for its skeleton and mechanics

The Clay Worker Guild to fire the enchanted clay of the river Vltava into a skin as hard as stone

The Glass Maker Guild to craft the chest plate into which anyone can see their heart’s desire

The Golem is an invincible creature; however, it longs for the one thing the guilds did not provide: a soul. Without a soul, the Golem is destined to be at the command of its creators. Throughout the game, you learn to wield the Golem's great power against Borgia's army and aid the Golem on its quest to find a soul.

GAME DESIGN

Unity Game EngineWe’ve used Unity on
several of our past projects. It allows us to spend more time focusing
on what makes the game fun and less on reinventing the wheel.

Made for Mac, PC and Linux

Our
game is designed for a dual stick controller, but every Mac, PC and
Linux user will be able to play with a keyboard and mouse. We want to
release this game on as many platforms as we can, and if we exceed our
goal we hope to make that happen.

Play as the GolemThe game is set in the dark and beautiful
city of Prague during the early 16th century. You will play as the
immensely powerful creature known as the Golem. Despite your incredible
potential for destruction, mastering the Golem will be about mastering
control of yourself so that you can protect and not destroy the great
city that created you. It will be deeply rewarding when you learn to
wield the Golem with not only savage strength but also with delicacy.

Epic Single-Player NarrativeStorytelling
is what we do and Golem will be built upon meaningful characters and a
deep narrative. Marrying the excitement and emotion of film with the
rewarding involvement and responsibility of video games is what the
Golem is all about. You will follow a linear narrative, but you will
also find that there is much to explore as you master the control of the
Golem.

Meaningful ControlsThe Golem is new to life
and you will be new to controlling him. You’ll learn to walk, run, jump
and sometimes you will sink or swim. The controls will evolve as the
Golem evolves, always providing a meaningful correspondence to the
experience. You may learn basic mechanics by throwing boulders and
playing in the forest, but the tasks that will be asked of you make you a
true master of the Golem, and require more of you than you may expect.
We’re making this game for a range of players, from those looking for
deep control and complexity to those simply wishing to partake in an
epic adventure.

Cinematic Third PersonWe will bring
everything we know and love about cinematography to the game, showing
you the rich city in stunning ways. You may play through the eyes of the
Golem at times, but much of what you experience will frame the Golem
beautifully within the landscapes of Prague.

Action RPGThe
five guilds of Prague built you, and as you progress they will continue
to help you. If you are hurt, the guilds will repair you, but your
success in the game will dictate how strong, fast, and powerful they can
make you. Although the Golem was created as simply a machine of war,
you will find that a deeper power resides within you, unknown even to
your creators.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

Our studio is small, nimble and independent because we have many amazing stories we want to share with the world in new and exciting ways.

With the grassroots support of our fans, we know the Golem can be the most beautiful, engaging and innovative game you've ever played. In the same way you create the Golem in our game, we need your help to bring this game to life.

By helping us fund this game, you help us start the process of telling the Golem's story across many media: games, films, apps and books. Part one is this video game. Who knows what might be next?

OUR CREDENTIALS

We've told a lot of stories through many platforms and we feel like they've all been leading up to this game. When we created The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, we knew an Academy Award-winning animated short film wouldn't be enough to tell Mr. Lessmore's story. So, we also created a landmark, award-winning app, a New York Times bestselling picture book and a companion augmented reality app, the IMAG·N·O·TRON.

Our Webby Award-winning app, the Numberlys, was created in only four months. We created the first interactive music video app for Polyphonic Spree’s single, Bullseye. We’re currently working on Diggs Nightcrawler, a film noir Mother Goose story for PlayStation’s Wonderbook. This has equipped our team with the desire and skills to make this game. It’s what all of our work has been leading up to.

Risks and challenges

We've learned a lot about the production pipeline during our lunar adventure. Each and every member of our team knows that there are numerous challenges to developing games.

We hope to deliver the Golem game in mid-2015. Time is short and we have a smaller team than most big game development companies. We have attempted several insane projects with unrealistic constraints. We thought it would be impossible to deliver an iOS app like the Numberlys with beautiful animation and novel interaction in four months, but we did it. When a project feels dangerous or crazy, we know we might be doing something right. Unexpected is our business model.

Our timeline and scope may change as we continue development, but we want to keep every backer informed and use their feedback to make this the best game we can make. Whether you back us at $15 or $10,000, we'll make sure you're kept in the loop every step of the way. That's why every backer will receive access to our production blog and other handsome rewards. Backer reward items, except for the game, will ship in June or July 2013. We'll provide an exact timeline on our production blog.

FAQ

Our game is designed for a dual stick controller, but every Mac, PC and Linux user will be able to play with a keyboard and mouse. We want to release this game on as many platforms as we can, and if we exceed our goal we hope to make that happen.

We've taken some historical cues about Prague, mixed them with historical figures and some other stories and merged them together. We hope that our method of storytelling will do the Golem mythology justice and pay respect to a story we love.

Controllers are becoming more and more popular for computer gaming. You can find a USB game controller that's a cinch to set up at Best Buy or similar stores. We're making this game for a variety of players, so if you do want to play with a keyboard and mouse, that's OK, too.

$100 reward

$100 reward

197 backers
Limited (803 left of 1000)

Join the METAL FORGER GUILD as an alpha and beta tester. We'll use your feedback to make the game even better! You’ll also receive: Metal Forger Guild pin + credit in the game as a tester + game + blog access + the soundtrack.

$10,000 reward

0 backers

A visit to our studio in Shreveport for the day, dinner with the team, two rows of high fives. We'll immortalize you in the Golem game as a statue in the gothic city of Prague. You’ll also receive a 3D print of your statue + game + blog access + the soundtrack. (Flight and accommodations not included)

Estimated delivery:Apr 2015

Ships anywhere in the world

Funding period

Feb 4, 2013 - Mar 26, 2013
(50 days)

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